equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Starred grades are relatively recent, so anyone who sat GCSEs in the late 80s or the 90s won't have had stars. Claim them at your peril!
Unobtainable proof of GCSEs - options?
- Thread starter Lord Camomile
- Start date
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Yeah, she's very relieved
I suppose it's not indicative of your current skill level, but demonstrates you have reached at least a certain level.
Otherwise would we have to take regular tests to see what level we were currently at? Or job interviews would be accompanied by exams?
I guess "have gone to obtain X qualification which is higher" or "have been doing Y job, which plainly requires Z level of skill" should be enough for most.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Yep.
Examinations are a pretty useless form of assessment in most circumstances.
baldrick
hmmmmm
I sat mine in 1997 and that was the first year of them.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Christ I'm old.
Sapphireblue
Well-Known Member
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
I must admit, I thought GCSEs were slightly older than that. But think that's mostly based on who talks about O-Levels 
baldrick
hmmmmm
Oh how weird. I was convinced I was in the first cohort. You are right though, I've just checked. Maybe it was different by exam board.
Steel Icarus
we move
I was last year of O levels/CSEs, in 1987
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
First year of GCSEs was 1988, I took mine the year after.
weltweit
Well-Known Member
I don't have my certificates anymore, and I can hardly remember which subjects I did at O and A level. I recall doing Engineering Drawing certainly for O and I think also for A, I passed Maths and English Language and Lit at O but don't remember much else, I think I did Physics O ..
I only mention my degree on my CV and I do have the certificate for that and various other things, but no evidence remains from my O and A levels.
I only mention my degree on my CV and I do have the certificate for that and various other things, but no evidence remains from my O and A levels.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
I must admit, I thought GCSEs were slightly older than that. But think that's mostly based on who talks about O-Levels
They are, it's A* that didn't start for a few years after GCSEs started.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Same here. I can add up but even now I tend to use a calculator for any sums stuff. Forget quadratic equations and all that nonsense - definitely definitely don't remember them.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
My sister was the last year of O levels, and I remember there was debate at the time of 'dumbing down' exams with the introduction of GCSEs so they allegedly made the first year of them much harder than O levels. Don't know how true that is.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
GCSE’s did however go through the annual media speculation that they were getting easier every year as A* grades increased year on year.
I think there was some truth in that. I did GCSEs in ‘98 and they were piss easy compared to some of the O Level papers I saw from years before.
I think there was some truth in that. I did GCSEs in ‘98 and they were piss easy compared to some of the O Level papers I saw from years before.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
I did biology GCSE in my first year at sixth form - secondary school wouldn't allow people to do three science subjects for some odd reason, so I only did physics and chemistry. The exam was a piece of piss and seemed much easier than the main batch of GCSEs I'd done the year before. Got an A without making any effort.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
I vaguely remember my maths teacher complaining that the 1988 maths GCSE paper was so much harder than the O level past papers she'd used to prepare her students with.
But I also recall that a question that I did on 1989 maths GCSE appeared on my brothers' A level maths paper.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Today there is a massive, massive difference between GCSE Maths and GCE A level Maths. The GCSE is an embarrassment and no preparation whatsoever for A level Maths of any kind.
Some subjects dumbed down more than others. Physics and Chemistry A levels have not dumbed down. Biology has. Both at GCSE and GCE and, I'm led to believe, at degree level.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Yes, when I worked doing tutoring and tutorial support at university there used to be clear differences between the maths I had done at school and what people 10-15 years later were doing. So much the uni ran two different ability streams and remedial classes to get people up to standard.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
WJEC (Wales) at least had the decency this year to stop the nonsense of being able to achieve a C on the maths foundation paper.
But before you get too carried away, check this. On the Higher maths paper the marks needed to achieve grade C were....32/160.
20%. Equals a maths O level as I knew it.
But before you get too carried away, check this. On the Higher maths paper the marks needed to achieve grade C were....32/160.
20%. Equals a maths O level as I knew it.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Yeah, I never understood the foundation paper thing. I sat the higher level coursework and got an A, but everyone in my PRU was entered for foundation. So the highest I could possibly get was a C. I literally answered one question and doodled on the exam paper and still got a C because of the higher level coursework I'd done. But if they'd entered me for higher level, I'd have worked for it, and different A level options and therefore degree options would have been open to me.
Even as a teacher the foundation level never made sense to me. Most schools I worked in didn't offer it because it made it harder to get a C.
Looby
Well-Known Member
I did foundation level as a mature student 4 years ago. I only needed a C and although I needed to score more on foundation for a C than I would have with higher, I was consistently scoring really well on the foundation but getting tripped up on the higher so it wasn’t worth the risk for me.
Gaia
Urban's Village Idiot
Seems that for chemistry all you need do for a pass is turn up, remember to write your name on the paper, and correctly answer a couple of questions (which are multiple choice), and that’s it, you’ve a C (sorry, a 4). Still, I’m glad they’re teaching separate sciences again, none of this ‘double-award’ nonsense.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
Sorry but that’s bullshit. Have you been reading the Mail or something?
Gaia
Urban's Village Idiot
Exams are proof you can pass exams (or can’t, in my case), they are indicative of fuck all else.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
Fyi: last summer’s chemistry paper here. Plus markscheme. Edexcel Chemistry Past Papers - Revision Science
This year’s will have been similar.
Honestly, regurgitating this tabloid bollocks without checking the facts at all (funding this took about thirty seconds) is indefensible and massively rude to education professionals and kids alike.
Oh and the double award does still exist. It means students get a grounding in all three subjects even if they don’t want to dedicate three subjects on their timetable.
Gaia
Urban's Village Idiot
Nope. I believe that was the assessment in the Graun, I have never wittingly read the DM.
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